M.D.s, judges highest-paid state workers

Robert Salladay, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, June 1, 2003

2003-06-01 04:00:00 PDT Sacramento -- As California faces its worst budget deficit in history, the number of state employees making salaries above $100,000 has grown to new heights -- a fivefold increase since 1995.

Most of the state's highest-paid employees are judges, prison doctors and state psychiatrists who make between $130,000 and $200,000 a year, a Chronicle review of payroll records revealed. Many add to their salaries with tens of thousands of dollars in overtime and bonus pay.

The state defends these salaries as competitive with the private sector, but others see the public payroll as out of control.

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"It's no secret that California is the land of milk and honey as far as public employment goes," said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. "There just seems to be no competitive pressure whatsoever to suppress or keep these salaries at any level of sanity."

With a fiscal hole of $38.2 billion, Gov. Gray Davis is threatening layoffs if the state's payroll is not cut. Behind the scenes, state worker unions and the Davis administration are fighting over who gets the best sees their promised pay increases disappear, and who gets salary cuts or layoff notices.

Amid the debate, The Chronicle obtained a list from the state controller of the 1,500 highest-paid employees, many working in some of the toughest, hardest-to-fill jobs in government.

With few exceptions, these people work with convicts and the mentally ill. Nearly 700 judges accounted for 46 percent of workers in the peak salary ranges, while two departments -- Corrections and Mental Health -- accounted for 37 percent.

A psychiatrist working for one of the state's four mental hospitals can make a $152,988 salary and often significantly more for working late-night shifts and weekends. One doctor at Napa State Hospital made an extra $100,752 in this "medical officer of the day" compensation, the records show.

The same deal extends to prisons. Three doctors at Corcoran State Prison, for example, made $114,289, $99,857 and $99,392, respectively, on top of their base salaries. In total, three dozen other prison doctors and state psychiatrists made more than $50,000 apiece in extra-shift pay.

Overall, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of state workers making more than $100,000 a year. In 1995, a little more than 1,000 government workers made six-figure salaries -- but now 5,125 employees are in the 100K club, according to Capitol Weekly, which tracks state salaries.

TOP EARNERS

The list of highest-paid employees shows that 176 people made more money than the governor, whose salary is $165,000 a year. Almost all of them are staff psychiatrists and doctors at state hospitals and prisons. The chief psychiatrist at the Ironwood State Prison, located in the desolate Sonoran Desert near the Arizona border, made only $8 less than Davis.

The highest-paid state employee is Mark Anson, who made $434,526 as the chief investment officer of the California Public Employees' Retirement System.

At the bottom of the list of 1,500 was San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Carter P. Holly, who made $129,163 a year, like dozens of his judicial colleagues statewide.

The second-highest-paid state employee is Dr. Tam Bui, the surgeon and doctor at San Quentin Prison. He made $354,754 in a 12-month period, including $224,566 in bonus pay for working round-the-clock on some days.

The list of 1,500 high-wage earners includes several people who more than doubled their paychecks by working overtime, including a nurse at Napa State Hospital who racked up $119,842 in overtime in 12 months by routinely working overnight shifts and weekends at the mental hospital. That was on top of his regular salary of $58,214.

HIGHEST-PAID CHP OFFICER

Three California Highway Patrol officers in the Bay Area earned more than $80,000 apiece in overtime guarding bridges and other potential terrorist targets, according to the CHP. The top was Officer Vernon Farley, who made $157,197.

In total, six CHP officers made more money than their boss, Commissioner Dwight "Spike" Helmick. One CHP officer, the bodyguard of Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, made $137,577 including overtime -- more money than Bustamante himself made.

The Legislature this year must decide whether Anson and 29 other CalPERS investment officers can continue to receive their current pay. Four of the five highest-paid state employees work for the pension fund and receive substantial yearly bonuses.

But the state Supreme Court recently ruled that some CalPERS salaries violate state salary limits for civil servants. The $130 billion pension fund is fearful that lowering salaries will scare away talented investment experts and force the state to hire outside consultants, costing millions of dollars.

"If you drop down to the civil service ranks, you will be drawing from a talent pool that is simply less experienced," Anson said in an interview.

In recent months, the Department of Corrections has come under intense scrutiny for an explosion in overtime costs. The prison system went nearly $180 million over budget last year, according to state officials, in part because of overtime and workers' compensation payments.

PRISON HOSPITAL PAY

But there are very few prison guards, sergeants or lieutenants among the top 1,500 highest paid workers. Instead, the most lucrative prison jobs are in the system's four hospitals and 14 clinics. The Department of Mental Health, which also operates four other hospitals and treats 4,200 patients, dominates the list as well.

The Department of Mental Health says the salaries are competitive with the private sector and necessary to retain qualified psychiatrists to work in remote locations and with difficult patients. Psychiatrists and doctors are paid an extra $2,200 a month as a recruitment and retention bonus to keep them from fleeing to the private sector.

Corrections and Mental Health both have several dozen vacancies for psychiatrists and doctors. While recruitment is continuous, many hospitals prefer to just have their current doctors work the overnight shifts and on weekends instead of hiring new people. The argument is that even though the bonus payments are high, the state saves money by not having to pay benefits for new employees or independent contractors.

The Department of Corrections is required by court order to keep an adequate number of psychiatrists and pay them a retention and recruitment bonus. The Department of Mental Health decided to add the bonus as well, because psychiatrists started leaving to work for the suddenly more lucrative prison system.

The median salary for a high-ranking physician in the Los Angeles area is $157,768 -- about what the state is paying top-ranked doctors and psychiatrists, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"When we can't compete with the private sector or other state institutions, we know we have a problem," said John Rodriguez, deputy director for the Department of Mental Health. "That is the real value the recruitment and retention gives us. That is what gives us the competitive edge."

But another arm of the Davis administration, the Department of Personnel Administration, is fighting to remove the bonus pay and erase a promised 5 percent raise for Department of Mental Health psychiatrists, according to the union representing state doctors. The union is not subject to the same salary limits as CalPERS employees. Negotiations are continuing.

Gary Robinson, executive director of the Union of American Physicians and Dentists, said he believes "there would be no hiring" without the bonus pay since the state already has a hard time filling positions.

"They couldn't hire a psychiatrist in the state of California," Robinson said. "I can tell you that many would quit, and it would endanger (the state's) licensing status. There would be a lawsuit."